Movement MCS Drum Computer MK1

The Drum Computer (or Percussion Computer) from Movement Computer
Systems is a very rare British made drum machine circa 1981. It is
estimated that only 30 or so units were produced. It combines analog
synthesized drum sounds (Simmons style) and digital 8-bit sampled drum
sounds (LinnDrum style). There are seven voice cards, each with two drum
voices, for a total of 14 drum voices. Each drum voice can be switched
between either the analog (syn) or digital (real) mode and has its own
Volume and Pitch-Sustain control knobs.

Its most obvious and unique feature is the computer-like interface. It
is used to facilitate graphic editing of the sequencing of drum
patterns, with data displayed on a monochrome CRT display (video can be
output to an external monitor via connections on the rear). Sequenced
patterns can be chained together into Songs. It does not offer graphic
drum sample editing or synthesis. New drum sounds can not be sampled in
to it either as it does not appear to have audio inputs. It does,
however, have extensive outputs including stereo out, individual outputs
for each voice, individual Trigger inputs and outputs for each voice,
Drum sync in and out, clock output, and cassette in and out for saving
data to tape.

Two models are known to exist: the MK1 which may have been a two-piece
unit in which the monitor was separate from the rest of the machine, and
the MK2 (released in 1983) which integrated the CRT monitor and had an
orange (or black) case. In 1984, the MIDI specification was added to the
MK2, along with an additional 8-track sequencer, battery backed memory
and a floppy disk drive.

Its most prominent user was David Stewart of the Eurythmics on tracks
such as "Sweet Dreams". However, it never sounded as good as
the competition surrounding it from Linn, Simmons and Oberheim and the
product never really took off. It has been owned/used by The
Eurythmics, Phil Collins, The Thompson Twins, Human League, Thomas
Dolby, Kajagoogoo, Japan, Willian Orbit, Chemical Brothers and Vince
Clarke. Supposedly, some of these artists used the same
machine as it passed from one group to the next.